Jessie turned his head towards the person who sat down and, without lifting his head off the table, just stared at them.

“Yes?” He asked after a moment

“Are you the one who stopped by my smithy earlier?” The man asked

At this Jessie took a better look at the man. He wore a sleeveless canvas tunic and a pair of grubby, soot stained canvas pants. He was very well muscled and looked to be around 60 years old, though his large bushy beard probably contributed to him looking that old.

“I was.” It was at this point he decided to lift his head from the table and look at the man properly.

“Good. Do you think you can obtain more?”

“Depends how many you want.”

“The teeth, claws, and pelt of, let’s say 10 adult wolves, I’ll buy the parts off you for the same price as that assistant of mine.”

‘Quest received: wolf hunting 0/10

The blacksmith of Whitewater village has requested you hunt 10 adult wolves. He is offering you the same price per part as his assistant did.

Reward: depends on how much you bring back.’

“Sure, I’ll take you up on the offer.” Jessie said after he read what the quest contained.

“Great.” The blacksmith said as he clapped his hands loudly. “I’ll leave you to your meal then.” The smith stood up and left the inn a moment before Jessie’s meal showed up.

“Your meal sir.” The server said as she placed a wooden bowl of stew on the table, alongside a tankard of ale. “Would there be anything else?”

Jessie looked at the meal and then back at the server.

“How much is the meal?”

“Oh, silly me. The stew and ale is 10 coppers, and a room for 1 night is 15 coppers.”

“I’ll, just take the meal for now.” He said as he placed 10 coppers on the table.

“Thank you.” The server said as she picked up the coppers and returned to the kitchen with the empty plates of another table.

Jessie picked up the wooden spoon he was given and dug into the meal, it was a simple meat stew made from what tasted like lamb and an assortment of different spices. The fact he could taste the meal with the level of intricate detail surprised him more than most things in the game had. So far it had been an interesting day, he had spoken to powerful NPC’s, and been impaled by what he assumed to be a wandering world boss, and now he had been requested to hunt wolves for a blacksmith, what the hell would the blacksmith do with the parts he had requested? After pondering this confusing question for a while, Jessie just decided to get him the parts and not worry about it any further, though he would need to visit the smithy for some more arrows as it took him about 5 arrows to take down an adult wolf, and 10 arrows to hunt the rabbits, he wasn’t the best shot when it came to the bow.

Standing up a few minutes later, and after he had downed the food and drink he had ordered, Jessie made his way out of the inn and towards the smithy.

As he once again opened the door to the shop he noticed the elf was still reading the same book he was when Jessie last visited. The elf looked up as he entered, a contrast to what happened last time.

“May I help you?” He asked as he spotted Jessie entering

“How much would 20 iron arrows cost?”

“I can offer you 20 iron arrows for 20 copper,” the elf said as he placed the arrows on the counter.

Jessie took out the needed money and placed it on the counter as well, taking the arrows and thanking the elf. As he left the shop, Jessie took a glance behind him and saw that the elf had gone back to burying his nose in the book.

The walk to the gate was short, but Jessie took in all the details of the village, from the unusually well paved road, to the sturdy stone based houses and buildings that rose two or three floors high. It made Jessie wonder why this village was different to other villages, or if it even was different and this was how all villages, towns and cities were constructed throughout this kingdom. The gate and wall were also different from the palisades that he would have expected, they were thicker and more sturdy, with a stone base to give them more structural support. Passing through the gate, Jessie walked down the road and towards the mountains where he assumed he would be able to find more wolves, especially since he had killed two in this direction an hour earlier.

The forest was quiet, apart from the slight russell of the undergrowth as Jessie passed through it, and the call of birds in the trees. The motley pattern of light that bled through the trees made it hard for Jessie to locate anything small that may be creeping up on him while he walked. The direction he was headed was towards where he had slain the other two wolves, yes it was a strange way to hunt, but he didn’t know where any wolf dens were nor did he ask for their locations when he set out, a stupid mistake and one he was going to try and fix in the future.

It took him a few minutes walking through the forest, occasionally stumbling when he did see a root or low hanging vine, to reach the spot of the dead wolves. Upon approaching the spot he began walking slowly to avoid making any noise and starling any wolves that may be up ahead, and yes, he had decided that circling around to be downwind of the wolves was a smart idea. Upon arriving in the small clearing in which the wolves were slain, Jessie found nothing but bones and blood, scavenged of all meat till only white bones and blood soaked ground remained. Jessie took a quick look around the cleaning and noticed some tracks which seemed to match those of a wolf's paws, well, the paw prints of what seemed to be a pack of wolves. Not being a tracker, or for that fact a fighter, Jessie couldn’t figure out how many wolves were in this pack, but he decided to try hunt them anyways, besides what could go wrong if a player with his stats permanently stuck at 1 till he recovers 50 levels hunted a pack of wolves, which were most definitely above level 1.

Continuing through the forest Jessie made sure to make as little noise as possible, it was a terrifying adventure, knowing that a single mistake will send him straight back to the village, with an even lower level.

The trail led him to a cave at the base of the mountains, it only took him a couple hours of following this trail. But upon teaching the edge of the forest, he gazed across an open expanse of shrubs and knee high grass that stood. After climbing a tree to get a better look at what was in front of him, and to plan out how he was going to approach the quest, Jessie noticed a group of different wolves stalking around the perimeter of the cave, upon closer inspection though, Jessie recognised these wolves as the same type as the one he had killed earlier, what they were doing stalking around a cave, he did not know. What he did know was that there were over 100 wolves around the cave, it seemed like multiple packs had come together to hunt something, probably whatever was currently residing inside the cave.

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Howls and growls, and roars came from inside the cave, loud enough, and menacing to send shivers down Jessie’s spine, it was definitely not a wolf that was making the roars. They sounded almost draconic. It was at this point that about half the wolves charged into the cave with howls that echoed around the clearing and into the cave, followed shortly afterwards by another spine shivering roar, although this one sounded almost pained, as if whatever had made the sound had been grievously injured. The remaining wolves all charged into the cave at this point, adding their howls to the infernal choir that was echoing around the cave and inside Jessie's mind. It took a few minutes of howls and roars till the cave went silent, and a few bloodied and beaten wolves fled from the cave. Jessie waited a while before deciding that it was safe to venture down from the tree in which he had managed to hide himself from the wolves, it may have been how high he up he was, or how much attention the wolves were paying to the cave, but they had made no move or indication that they had noticed Jessie’s presence at all.

After carefully climbing down from the tree, Jessie ventured towards the cave, what he found in contrast from what he saw when he was up in the tree, was how large the cave opening was. Feeling a little creeped out about what he was about to do, Jessie made his way into the cave and, contrary to what he had thought, suffered no penalty to his sight. The further he went into the cave, the more wolf corpses he saw, this made him nervous because some of them had been pierced right in the heart, while others had been smashed against the wall or torn to pieces by claws larger than their own bodies. His feeling of nervousness was increasing to extremely uncomfortable levels, so uncomfortable in fact that he was considering turning around and leaving, just as he was about to commit to turning around and leaving the cave, he walked into what he assumed was a giant underground cathedral. A ceiling that seemed to rise to the peak of the mountains and pillars of stone with carvings so intricate that they seemed to move and portray the story of a civilisation long past that rose into the darkness above. The room was so large Jessie first thought he was back somewhere in the divine bazaar, however that thought was immediately vanquished as he noticed a claw poking out of the shadows at the end of the hall. The claw was about the size of a freight train carriage and curved up into the shadows, the more attention Jessie paid to the environment he was in the more details he noticed, from the rumble of something snoring to the slight scratching of claws on stone or the gentle swoosh of wings cutting through the air. The giant claw retracted into the shadows, scaring Jessie enough that he almost screamed.

“A mortal has come to this sacred place.” a deep voice boomed out throughout the cave system.

From tunnels that Jessie could only now barely see, forms flew out into the main chamber, circling the pillars and room. Dull thuds came from pillars as the forms landed on the and grabbed hold to peer down onto the human who had entered. Jessie gasped in surprise and fright when a giant, purple eye appeared from the shadows, into which the claw had disappeared.

“How did you find this place mortal?” the voice sounded again

Jessie couldn't answer, for some reason he felt like his whole body had seized up upon glancing at the eye, like a sort of force was holding him still and infusing his bones and very being with fear.

“Interesting.” the voice rumbled. “A wanderer has appeared in this place.” The giant eye closed for a moment and then opened again. “But why are you here?” The voice paused again. “Ah, you were hunting the wolves. So why then did you not leave when you were told what this place is?” Another pause. “Hmmm, I see. You were not told, which means you don’t have the skill. But you should have received it with your blessing. The bleeding of an ancient, how fortunate. But which one? Death, I see. So why then did he not? Ah, he forgot.”

The voice paused again, this time for about a minute, during this time Jessie felt the pressure fading slightly, enough so he wouldn't feel the need to try and flee, but not enough to make him feel comfortable, at least as comfortable as he could be after seeing that giant claw.

“I will not grace you with my true form mortal.” The voice came again, startling Jessie a bit as he had been lost in thought. “But I will show myself.” As the voice spoke, it slowly changed and became a bit softer and less domineering. After saying this final line, the whole chamber slowly lit up, runes inscribed within the pillars, the warm light exposing not only what was attached to the pillars, but also what was in front of him.

“You are the first mortal man to have seen me since ages long since forgotten by all but the eldest of beings.” The creature said, “it is not your fault you came here without knowing where you were. For that, you may live.”

The pressure that had suffused Jessies bones faded away leaving him with control over his own body again.

“You, you are.” Jessie stuttered out

“A dragon.” The creature said simply.

Jessie stared at the dragon for some time. It was at least 20 metres long, with two gold horns protruding from the top of its head. The scales seemed to shift between purple and gold as the light landed on them in different places and it’s wings seemed to be folded in so much they looked like a thick duvet of shimmering gold and purple.

“I thought dragons had two legs.” He managed to get out.

“You are ignorant then.” The dragon said. “But I suppose that space, time and dimensional borders distort the truth. A Wyvern has two legs, are a lot smaller than dragons and are more aggressive.” The dragon looked upwards towards the ceiling. “The differences between a dragon and a wyvern are vast, but that is all you need to know.”

Jessie followed the dragon's gaze and gulped. The sound of wings cutting the air came from the hundreds of wyverns that were circling the ceiling, and on the sides and tops of the pillars, which resembled a cat's play stand, perched around 50 dragons, of different sizes and colours. Though many of the dragons seemed young, Jessie guessed that they could be hundreds or thousands of years old. Jessie fell backwards as he registered that the whole time he had been frozen, he had been surrounded by creatures that could probably wipe the kingdom off the map. The dragon smiled at Jessie, a smile that looked like the dragon was going to eat him.

“Welcome to my sanctuary mortal.” it said. “For Aeons I have resided here, looking after the dragons and wyverns abandoned as eggs or young by territorial disputes long before the mortal species’ existed on this world.” The smile faded as the dragons studied Jessie far more closely. “What is your name mortal?”

The question came as such a surprise to Jessie that he forgot what he had named his character.

“Jessie.” He said, before remembering that he had called himself ghost.

“Hmm, but your name is ghost. So why did you? Oh, this is interesting. Very well ghost, you may take the wolf corpses and do whatever you wish with them.” Before Jessie could turn around and flee the sanctuary something materialised in front of him, an egg the size of a wine barrel stood before him, the egg had a pattern of overlapping scales of pure white trimmed with gold, as he looked at it, flashes of purple danced over the surface.

“I ask one more thing of you.” The dragon said in his rumbling voice. “I have too many young, but none old enough to look after an egg. I ask you keep this on or near you till it hatches.”

“I would, great one.” Jessie said. “But, um, this is way too big for me to carry easily.”

As Jessie said this, the egg began shrinking, in the span of around 4 seconds the egg had shrunk from the size of a wine barrel to the size of an ostrich egg.

“Oh, um, thank you.” He said after the egg had shrunk.

“You need only keep it near.” The dragon rumbled. “It is around a week from hatching. Do be warned, while a dragon can survive on mana alone, the planet you come from is too barren for that.” The dragon smiled a bit. “I hope you have the funds for when that happens.”

The wyverns that had been circling the ceiling were now perching on the pillars, and the dragons were curling up on their perches. It was clear that the conversation was over. The light began fading from the back of the room, and by the time Jessie looked back at the dragon he was talking to, he could no longer see it.

“I bid you safe travel, mortal Ghost.” The dragon said, its voice once more the low bass it was when it first spoke. “The exit is clear, harvest what you need of the wolves, the rest I shall feed to the young.”

Jessie picked up the egg and carefully put it in the bag he had obtained when in the village, and left the main chamber, focusing on finding the way out,

It took him a few minutes to get the right tunnels but he made it out of the cave as the sun was approaching the horizon. Realising he would be heading back to the village at night if he tried to return everything now. He decided that harvesting the parts then logging off would be the best thing to do.